New boutique owner hopes to help comfort families with loss of baby

Losing a child to still birth can be absolutely debilitating for a woman.

But for one local mother, it inspired her to open a child’s boutique to honor her baby and hopefully ease the pain of other women who have gone through the same ordeal.

Morgan Phillips opened Little Piper Boutique at the The Loop West in Kissimmee in July. She lost her baby girl, Piper, in September of last year.

“I lost my daughter at 35 weeks so it was a really devastating time. I was just thinking of ways to honor her and maybe reach out to other families that have gone through child loss,” said Phillips, 25. “We came up with the idea of the children’s boutique because what better way to reach out to families? They are going to come in and see the clothes. So we thought this was the best way to meet other families.”

The store also keeps Piper’s memory alive and well.

“When I lost her, I just needed to have something that I could do for her every single day, something with a little bit of her with me everyday,” Phillips said.

The boutique sells infant clothes, tween sizes, hair bows, blankets, bins and other accessories. But it also has something a little extra special – a memory wall. At the rear of the store there is a decorative shelf with a framed sign that says, “Because someone we love is in heaven, there is a little bit of heaven in our store.”

Under the shelf, there are small gold plates lined up with the names of babies who were lost.

“If I meet any other families and they want to share their story with me, we get their name and we put the name up on the wall to honor their little one,” Phillips said.

She’s actually met quite a few families that have suffered loss. When people walk into the store to shop, Phillips always likes to greet her customers and help them find the items they are looking for. It’s usually then how they learn how the boutique was started.

“ People come through my door and you get to talk with them, they tell me their story. I already have a few people on my wall I’ve met just from here,” Phillips said. “It’s kind of nice to know when they come back that I’m here for them.”

For Phillips, one of the hardest parts about losing Piper, was going to stores and seeing items she couldn’t buy for her anymore.

“I hope it makes it a little easier to come and shop,” she said.

It’s not uncommon for Phillips to give out her phone number or set up lunch dates with some of her customers. The interaction goes both ways, she noted.

“Knowing that I’m not alone helps me,” Phillips said.

The boutique is located at 2653 W. Osceola Parkway. For more information, visit the website at www. littlepiperboutique.com or call 765-625-1012.